Go On
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: Narcissa fights back against an arranged marriage. one shot.


**Author's Note:** So much thanks to my team for being such kind and beautiful people!

Written for…

Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. _Team/Position:_ Falmouth Falcons, Seeker. _Task:_ write a fic inspired by "The Show Must Go On"

Hogwarts Assignment #2. _Lesson:_ Health and Fitness, task 1. _Task:_ Write about someone running away from their problems.

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**Go On**

_1,056 words_

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"You want me to marry _Lucius Malfoy?_" Narcissa stared in disgust at the marriage contract, trying to wish away the name. It didn't work.

"You agreed to marry whomever I chose, Narcissa." Her father took the parchment from her hands and signed it. "Abraxas was rather agreeable to our terms, and Lucius is a fine young man. Why are you displeased?"

"I had hoped for someone more distinguished than a Malfoy. I'm not sure their reputation is one I want to associate myself with, Father."

Cygnus sighed exasperatedly. "It's too late for backing out. The contract has already been signed. You're to marry Lucius by the end of the summer."

Narcissa retired to her room early. Despite claiming to her parents to be tired, she spent the whole night lying awake, watching the twitching of the compass needle on her arm. The compass had appeared when she was a small child—too small to even remember. It had only grown darker over time. It moved constantly, often so wildly that Narcissa believed her soulmate traveled often, to allow for him to change directions in the blink of an eye.

She took more of an interest in her soulmark than she let on to the family. Her mother had always told her that just because the universe connected her to someone, didn't necessarily mean that Narcissa was meant to be with them. Blacks didn't believe in such nonsense. So Narcissa agreed to an arrangement in the hopes that it would result in a respectable match, like Bellatrix had.

The dread she felt at the prospect of marrying Malfoy only served to intensify Narcissa's long-suppressed fascination with the compass. The only way she could get out of the contract now was if she married someone else first. Maybe the person on the end of the compass, against all odds, would be that person.

Careful not to rouse her sleeping parents, Narcissa crept from the house and disapparated.

It was almost midnight, but the lights were still on in her soulmate's house. Narcissa felt only the smallest sliver of hesitation as she knocked on the door but she stood her ground, determined to get an answer out of him.

James Potter answered the door a moment later, and for a second Narcissa was tongue-tied as she took in his appearance. He hadn't been more than a child the last time she'd laid eyes on him, and she was secretly delighted at how he'd turned out.

"Can I help you, Ms. Malfoy?" His tone was more hostile than she would have liked, but then she supposed he didn't have much of a reason to trust her. They'd never actually spoken before.

"I came to speak to you about this," she said as she held out her arm, the compass pointing straight at him.

James crossed his arms over his chest and didn't move from the doorway, unimpressed by her.

"I didn't think you'd ever put the pieces together."

"You knew, then?"

He shrugged. "It didn't react as often after you left Hogwarts. It didn't take long to narrow it down after I figured out it was someone in your year."

"Yes. Mine darkened after you came to school. It pointed me towards your common room, and towards Sirius constantly. I decided it was either you or the fat one."

James narrowed his eyes. "And you decided to keep it to yourself for nine years?"

Narcissa looked down. How could she explain to him that even searching for him then and now had been an act of rebellion and desperation?

"I thought it best at the time. Neither of us were ready to have a discussion about marriage."

He stared at her, seemingly waiting for something. "You thought showing up at my house in the dead of night was the way to do things, then?"

Narcissa steeled herself for what she needed to say. "I'm to be married by the end of the summer. I don't approve of my husband-to-be, but I'm trapped."

"So you came to me, hoping that I'd rescue you?"

"In a manner of speaking. I considered our union would be mutually beneficial."

James snorted. "I'm afraid you're going to have to find another way out of this mess you've made, Ms. Black."

Narcissa frowned. She'd been so sure this would work. "I thought people like you were open to daring adventure and rule-breaking."

"Not at the cost of losing the woman I love. Good luck, and congratulations on your engagement."

The door was closed in Narcissa's face, and the realization that she had nowhere else to turn hit her.

There was Andromeda, she supposed. The very thought of her dear sister pained Narcissa, but she knew she could always run to her if things were especially bad. She just wasn't sure she had reached that point yet. It would mean turning her back on her family, on everything she'd ever known, and the idea terrified her.

There was another option, one she hadn't seriously considered since it had been presented to her: she could become Mrs. Malfoy. The idea disgusted her, but she supposed she could be willing to fight past that. She often heard her mother talk of how miserable she'd been as a new wife, but she soon grew to admire her husband. Narcissa wondered if she could be as brave as that.

Could she look past the groom to see potential in the marriage?

:-:

The dawn was breaking outside Narcissa's window. She watched the sun rise and illuminate the garden with her stomach in knots. It was already done up with garlands and candles for her special day, and she couldn't deny the beauty of it all.

Bellatrix settled herself by Narcissa's side and began fixing the blonde's hair and make-up. She was gossiping about some of the guests they were expecting, and while Narcisaa smiled and laughed along with her sister, her heart wasn't in it.

She decided that was the way she felt about most things these days. She felt defeated and heartbroken at the prospect of getting married, losing her freedom and her hopes and dreams, and yet she put on a smile and kept going, just as her mother had. The show must go on, she would remind herself, and there was no way she was going to let it break her.


End file.
